Building HMS Terror

Pages

Thursday, 10 May 2018

It all started with an email. Dave Kajganich had written to say that he and Soo Hugh were making a television show with AMC networks called “The Terror”, based on Dan Simmon’s fictionalized novel. They were fans of my blog, he wrote. They cared about historical accuracy, and Franklin’s ships were critical to the production. He asked if I would like to share a “wish list of things you'd really like a screen depiction of these ships to make sure to get right”. I climbed upstairs to see my wife, the smile still on my face, and exclaimed: “You’ll never guess who just wrote me.”

I emailed back, describing how I saw Terror as her own character in the Franklin drama; how I believed her plight mirrored that of her captain; how the capabilities and technology of the ships were critical to the Franklin mystery. Of course, I was happy to help them in any way that I could. I was invited to a conference call with the producers and writers. Eventually, I wrote an eight-page memo for the writing team about a dozen spaces/places on the ship that might serve as critical settings for their story (only one didn’t appear on screen). You can view that memo here.

Soon, I was having a conference call with the production designers and visual effects team. They were planning to reconstruct Terror and her lower decks at full scale (at full scale!). They would need all my original plans and research, and they wanted to know everything I had learned about the ships and their fittings during my model project. Eventually, I provided every file and reference image I had on my computer; I had to purchase more storage space on my Dropbox account just to share it all.

The Terror production built their ship at 1:1 scale. I will never forget the thrill of stepping aboard Terror

- 170 years after it had been abandoned. From left to right: Dave Kajganich, Jonathan McKinstry,

I don’t know if my journey was typical, but this was how I was hired as a historical advisor on “The Terror”. My primary roles in the series were threefold. First, I provided my original plans and research to the brilliant production designer, Jonathan McKinstry, who used them to reconstruct the ships at full scale. Jonathan and I wrote countless emails back and forth, and we used hundreds of photos, paintings, and plans of historical vessel and models, scrutinizing the smallest details of the ships. Second, I worked with Deryck Blake, the property master, and Kevin Downey, the set decorator, on recreating the material culture of the voyage. We exchanged hundreds of notes, images, documents, research papers, and videos - on subjects as mundane as 19th-century caulker’s tools, to topics as esoteric as how a compass needle reacts near the North Magnetic Pole (yes, sometimes they will spin, especially if the ship changes course). Lastly, I assisted Dave and Soo with their questions about shipboard life during polar expeditions - how the ships functioned and responded to polar conditions and pack ice, and facts (and hypotheses) about the Franklin expedition and its fate.

ON THE SHIPS:

The ship sets built for The Terror are highly accurate recreations of the vessels; perhaps the most accurate ship reconstructions ever created for television. The work of building the sets started with my original plans of HMS Terror, which I had created over five years of intensive historical research.

Historical Reference: No historical plans existed for Terror in her 1845 configuration. I reconstructed

The Terror Set: The production built the ship on a sound stage in Budapest using techniques remarkably like those I used to build my model. The tracks shown in the video allow the ship to be moved, permitting different configurations of icescape to be set around it. Note also the ability to tilt the ship, which was critical for later episodes. Video Credit: Twitter/ AMC.

The Terror Set: The sound stages used for the production weren’t large enough to permit a full reconstruction

of the masts and rigging. Those details, along with the icescape and sky, were added by the VFX team,

Reference: Peter Carney has provided detailed reconstructions of how these engines may have been installed in Erebus and Terror. Peter assisted me extensively in the development of this portion of my HMS Terror plans.

The Terror Set: The locomotive engine appears only briefly in Episode 1 but was reconstructed at full scale in

Budapest. All the levers and controls worked, and the flywheel was operated by a hand crank set just outside

the set. Image Credit: Alex Eldridge.

The Terror Set: Image of the Croydon engine facing forward, with the orlop deck above. This photo provides a sense of the very cramped space. Photo Credit: Matthew Betts.

Historical Reference: When locomotive engines were installed in Erebus and Terror, an extensive refit of the stern was required to accommodate the screw propeller. Oliver Lang, master shipwright for the Royal Navy, designed these modifications and outlined them in the above plan. Image Credit: ZAZ5683, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.

Reference: The stern was a very complex 3D structure, as shown in my model

of HMS Terror.

The Terror: The production recreated Erebus’ unusual stern with great historical accuracy for a

The Terror Set: The production installed 31 real illuminators in the upper

deck set. As this photo from the filming of Episode 4 shows, sometimes

the production informed our understanding of Franklin history. Not

only did the illuminators let natural light in, they let artificial light

from lanterns below deck to spill out. This would have been a

welcome source of light on the upper deck during the darkest

winter months. Photo Credit: Matthew Betts

Historical Reference: The great cabin of Erebus was sketched by an artist just prior to her departure on May 19th, 1845. Note the captain’s table and the cabin stove. Image Credit: Illustrated London News, May 24th, 1845, Page 328. Google Books.

Historical Reference: The Canadian Museum of History used my plans to recreate the exact dimensions

and shape of Erebus’ great cabin in the Death in the Ice exhibition (running until September 2018).

The display contains a real fragment of the captain’s table, recovered by Parks Canada

The Terror Set: This photo shows the remarkable reconstruction of the captain's great cabin for the television show.

Note the captain’s table and the cabin stove (moved to the starboard for ease of filming). I first visited this set when it was unlit and we had to use our cellphones as flashlights. I had a remarkable sensation of being a Parks Canada archaeologist, swimming through the actual wreck of Terror. Photo Credit: Matthew Betts

The Terror: Beautifully lit, and dominated by the presence of Ciarán Hinds, the great cabin is

brought to life. Photo Credit: Aidan Monaghan/AMC.

Historical Reference: The Illustrated London News also printed a woodcut of Captain Fitzjames'

The Terror Set: Fraser's Patent Stove was meticulously recreated for the production. Note the

ice melting tank above the stove. This is one of my favorite set reconstructions.

Photo Credit: Alex Eldridge.

Reference: Both ships had a unique sail bin placed in the central portion of the lower deck (shown on

the left of this half-breadth cross section). Sails were usually stored on the orlop deck, but the

sail bin was placed in the middle of the men’s sleeping quarters (on the lower deck) on

Erebus and Terror because the locomotive engine displaced the sail room.

The Terror Set: Despite the valuable space it took up on the cramped lower deck set, the production

included the sail bin, and even used it to organize the men for a scene depicting their weekly

muster. I was very impressed by this commitment to realism, despite the challenges it

posed for the production. Photo Credit: AMC

OFF THE SHIPS:

Once the men were forced to desert Erebus and Terror, they began leaving a trail of archeological evidence down the west coast of King William Island. Later, search parties and archaeologists collected these relics, and together with historical documents, they have formed a primary reference for the material culture of The Terror.

Historical Reference: This photo shows a piece of a runner from one of Franklin’s massive boat sledges.

The Terror: Using the above artifact, and descriptions recorded by Francis Leopold McClintock, the production reconstructed the sledges at full size.

Historical Reference: This is a fragment of the stem post and apron from the boat left at the famous “Boat Place” on King William Island, first found by McClintock’s search expedition. Photo Credit: AAA2282, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.

Historical Reference: William Thomas Smith’s famous painting, entitled “They Forged the Last Link

With their Lives” is a highly accurate reconstruction of the material culture found at the “Boat Place,”

based on McClintock’s descriptions and the artifacts he recovered from King William Island.

The Terror: The art department carefully reconstructed the felt-covered coffin from Beechey

Island for a pivotal scene in The Terror.

Historical Reference: The officers of the Franklin Expedition were photographed with

a daguerreotype camera immediately prior to their departure (the camera was

taken with them for the voyage). From left to right, Sir John Franklin,

James Fitzjames, and Francis Crozier.

The Terror: The art department carefully recreated the daguerreotype images of the senior officers. They were made slightly larger (and with a different coating) than actual daguerreotypes, which are very small and notorisouly difficult to film. From left to right: Ciarán Hinds, Tobias Menzies, and Jared Harris.

Historical Reference: The Admiralty Board determined all aspects of Franklin’s orders and, when he did not return, was tasked with organizing the official Royal Navy search effort. Photo Reference: PAD1392, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.

The Terror Set: The Admiralty Board scenes were shot on location at a historic property in Budapest.Photo Credit: Aidan Monaghan/AMC

Historic Reference: This beaded purse was recovered from the “Boat Place” on King William Island.

The Terror: The purse was carefully recreated by the art department for the series.

Historic Reference: Goldner’s preserved foods, packaged in lead-soldered tins, have been considered a critical part of the Franklin mystery for generations. The lead solder in the tins was suspected to be a primary source of the high lead content found in the remains of some of Franklin’s men.

The Terror: Our "Goldner" tins recreate the images on the original labels

(to the extent that they can be discerned), as well as the original text,reproduced word-for-word. The reproductions differ from the originals slightly; the red paint on The Terror cans is more vibrant, the labels are a little larger, and the lead solder is highlighted on the rims; all are accommodations for the camera. Photo Credit: Matthew Betts

The Terror: Property Master Deryck Blake shows off an assortment of Goldner tins used in The Terror. Also visible are the reproduction early can openers, inspired by the images on the preserved labels (see above). Photo Credit: Matthew Betts

Historical Reference: This small book, entitled the “Vicar of Wakefield”, was found in the ship’s boat discovered on the shores of Erebus Bay, King William Island. Undoubtedly, its size was a component in its being brought off ship. Photo credit: AAA2154, National Maritime

Add captionHistorical References: “Welsh wigs”, a type of knitted toque with an ornate border, were used by many Royal Navy arctic expeditions, including Franklin’s. Awelsh wig knitted before 1854 was donated to the St. Fagan’s National History Museum (F69.353), and Sally Pointer, a historic knitting enthusiast, was recently able to recreate the pattern (download it here, or buy it here). Annie Symons, the brilliant costume designer for the series, used thispattern to create dozens of welsh wigs for the cast of The Terror.Photo Credit: Sally Pointer.

issue slops used on Fraklin's expedition exist, but little is known about the clothing the men wore when they deserted theships. Instead, we looked to the garments Sir Francis Leopold McClintock constructed for his 1857-1859 searching voyage, which were based on decades of polar explorers before him.

When I began this project, I was, to my everlasting shame, secretly concerned that the historical references I was providing would be ignored or discarded in the interests of simplicity and cost-savings. When I walked onto the set in January of 2017 and saw Terror sitting there, canted in the ice, I instantly knew that my worries had been unwarranted. As I was led through the ship they had reconstructed, and as I picked up the artifacts they had recreated, I felt that I had walked aboard the real Terror. Later, as I toured a film crew through the sets, discussing her fittings and spaces for the camera, I was a proud officer showing off his ship. When I spent a day as an extra in Episode 4, I was an able seaman, trapped in the ice aboard the world’s greatest polar exploration vessel. These are experiences that shall never be effaced from my memory.